Odisha Fights Back: Journo, Five Others Held For Spreading Coronavirus Rumours

Kendrapara/Angul/Sambalpur: Police have arrested as many as six persons from the three districts for spreading rumours over coronavirus on social media.

In Kendrapara district, four persons including a journalist of a local TV channel were arrested for spreading canards against Prime Minister Narendra Modi relating to coronavirus.

The accused were identified as Niranjan Parida (59) of Kansara village under Town Police limits, Dhruti Ranjan Barik of Madhapur village, Sibasis Mohanty (32) of Chandol village under Sadar Police limits and Prafulla Das of Madarpur village.

According to police, the four accused had created a group in WhatsApp and spreading rumours and false information on coronavirus.

In another case, the Talcher Colliery Police arrested one Jayakrushna Sahu of Badasingha village in Angul district for committing the same offence.

Informing the media on Wednesday, Northern Central Range IG Narasingh Bhol said that the accused had posted a message on his Facebook about the death of a youth of Nuahata village in Banarpal area due to coronavirus. “After receiving a complaint from the family members, police began an investigation and found that the message posted by Sahu was false,” he added.

The IG appealed to the people to refrain from creating panic in society by spreading such rumours.

In Sambalpur, a 25-year-old youth was booked by the Town police for allegedly spreading misinformation about the novel coronavirus.

As per reports, the accused had shared some misinformation about the novel Covid-19 on WhatsApp.